Thailand to get tough on foreigners working without work permits, employers also targeted

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Thailand to get tough on foreigners working without work permits, employers also targeted

 

File photo

 

BANGKOK:-- Thailand has introduced new laws aimed at controlling the amount of migrant workers in the country, as well as foreigners who work in Thailand illegally.

 

Under the new laws, which have now come into effect, people who employ foreign workers illegally will also face tougher punishments, with employers set to face fines of between 400,000 – 800,000 THB for each foreigner they employ illegally.

 

Foreigners found working without a work permit face fines of between 2,000 - 100,000 THB or imprisonment of a maximum of 5 years.

 

Foreigners who engage in work different to that which is registered in their work permit will be fined up to 100,000 THB.

 

Under Thai law, some foreigners are prohibited from working in certain professions such as manual work, agriculture and secretarial work. In total there are 39 occupations prohibited to foreigners.

 

Meanwhile, the new laws will also help to protect the rights of migrant workers in Thailand.

 

Any employer found to be violating the rights of a migrant worker or who withholds important documents from the worker will face fines up to a maximum of 100,000 THB.

 

The new penalties were published in the Royal Gazette in a document dated 22 June 2017.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-06-27

 

[Suttisan]

Doesn't sound like good news for the TEFL industry. 

[ukrules]

Working in Thailand is a lot of hassle, unless someone else does all the paperwork for you I would not recommend it, there's plenty of other countries which make things a whole lot easier.

 

I know someone who was fined for painting a wall and know of someone else who was fined for momentarily holding some cables up for a workman.

 

If you work in Thailand as a foreigner and you will be surveilled by under cover police and they will pounce if you so much as make one tiny 'mistake' - this is with a work permit.

 

[NCC1701A]

curious to know what work permit the Russian girls have in Pattaya?

 

Sexy Real Estate Agent or Head Nurse?

 

 

[Slavomir]

Bad news for digital nomads?

[darksidedog]

Thailand to get tough? That's hysterical. They have been making themselves busy for years, creating situations that can be loosely interpreted as work to screw farang out of money, but now they are going to actually get tough on it. I suspect every reader here knows of more than one who has been set up and "fined."

Do they mean they are actually going to start issuing receipts for the "fines?"

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

FDI (foreign direct investment) will not improve that's for sure.

[robblok]

21 minutes ago, Slavomir said:

Bad news for digital nomads?

 

Too much work to catch a digital nomad and proving the case.. easier to hold them out by not granting visa's

[marquess]

What do they care, it seems that the Thai establishment are always going out of their way to make life harder for foreigners; this is just another example. Legitimately married foreigners ought to be given the right of residency and the right to work.

[Dave67]

" some foreigners are prohibited from working in certain professions such as manual work"

 

Good luck getting the Thais to do it

[HiSoLowSoNoSo]

Foreigners who engage in work different to that which is registered in their work permit will be fined up to 100,000 THB.  My lawyer told me to register too be able to work in all positions in the company to protect myself. I was informed that I could only work at the address my company was registered at, this is another stupid rule if you are working countrywide. 

[quandow]

Did I fall asleep and April 1st rolled around again without my noticing it?

[Dave67]

Surely 5 years in jail for not having a work permit is a bit harsh. I can't think of another country where that would be threatened

[AGareth2]

an excuse to extort more money from poor migrant workers

[balo]

1 hour ago, Slavomir said:

Bad news for digital nomads?

We are not working in Thailand , we just live here as tourists. Pay taxes to home country etc. 

 

 

 

[samsensam]

1 hour ago, Suttisan said:

Doesn't sound like good news for the TEFL industry. 

 

why not? you can bring in all the laws you want but if the authorities dont enforce them they aren't worth the paper they're written on. and thailand doesn't have a great record of enforcement of legislation (unless there is something in it for them)

 

[rkidlad]

I can't imagine this would really apply to people working online. People having money sent from another country and spent here. I'd imagine these people would be wanted. The only problem here is nationalism and a false sense of pride. I mean the government could make these people legal and have them paying taxes. But no. They'd rather have them paying no taxes and pretend they don't exist while the economy enjoys the money they spend here. 

 

I told a Thai friend about the elite visa. He seemed disappointed that you could simply buy a long term visa. Trying to explain to him about how the world works and how money will always trump morals and integrity with people who don't them. 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

So according to the article:

 

--a single worker working illegally without a work permit can face up to 5 years in prison.

 

--but employer using a factory full of illegal/un-permitted workers can only be fined but no prison time?

 

[Thai Ron]

1 hour ago, marquess said:

What do they care, it seems that the Thai establishment are always going out of their way to make life harder for foreigners; this is just another example. Legitimately married foreigners ought to be given the right of residency and the right to work.

Don't be ridiculous

Right of residency?? What for? It's not like the country attracts quality individuals, is it?

You've got all manner of deadbeats coming here, getting married and divorced inside a year and a lot of them can't even meet the 400k criteria for a 1 year extension.

 

If you've got marketable/in-demand skills, (engineering, finance, software etc) it's a piece of piss to work legally in Thailand.

If you're just a mope with 10 years' experience as a brickie, forget it. Thailand's got lots of those.

 

[AGareth2]

Just now, Thai Ron said:

If you're just a mope with 10 years' experience as a brickie, forget it. Thailand's got lots of those.

could try teaching

[bannork]

1 hour ago, Dave67 said:

" some foreigners are prohibited from working in certain professions such as manual work"

 

Good luck getting the Thais to do it

A Thai friend of mine has a car care business. He employed Mon workers from Myanmar, 3 days ago they all had to quit due to no work permits. They've gone back to try to get legal, how much it's going to cost is still uncertain but my friend swears by them. Hardworking and on time. They couldn't believe it when he gave them a New Year bonus last year.

As he said, Thais don't want to do dirty , hard or dangerous work, not that I would put car cleaning in any of those categories!

[Thai Ron]

3 minutes ago, AGareth2 said:

could try teaching

For 30-40K a month?

Hardly worth it, is it?

[AGareth2]

1 minute ago, Thai Ron said:

For 30-40K a month?

Hardly worth it, is it?

might be OK for a Brickie

[samsensam]

1 minute ago, bannork said:

A Thai friend of mine has a car care business. He employed Mon workers from Myanmar, 3 days ago they all had to quit due to no work permits. They've gone back to try to get legal, how much it's going to cost is still uncertain but my friend swears by them. Hardworking and on time. They couldn't believe it when he gave them a New Year bonus last year.

As he said, Thais don't want to do dirty , hard or dangerous work, not that I would put car cleaning in any of those categories!

 

indeed, many western countries have jobs that the locals dont want to/wont do and are often snapped up by illegal workers, as long as these workers are treated fairly then it is detrimental to a countries economy to kick them out.

 

however if a nationalistic government wants to appear tough on immigrants and foreigners then illegal workers are an easy target.

[samsensam]

3 minutes ago, Thai Ron said:

For 30-40K a month?

Hardly worth it, is it?

 

depends on expectations and lifestyle. for me no chance.

[rodknock]

dog and pony show

way to add more to brown bag!!!

[Moonmoon]

6 minutes ago, bannork said:

A Thai friend of mine has a car care business. He employed Mon workers from Myanmar, 3 days ago they all had to quit due to no work permits. They've gone back to try to get legal, how much it's going to cost is still uncertain but my friend swears by them. Hardworking and on time. They couldn't believe it when he gave them a New Year bonus last year.

As he said, Thais don't want to do dirty , hard or dangerous work, not that I would put car cleaning in any of those categories!

Strange and yet Thais r working as car cleaners and construction workers in more developed countries. 

 

Its not Thais cannot get down n dirty, its the pay that determines if they want to get down to it or not.

[bannork]

1 minute ago, Moonmoon said:

Strange and yet Thais r working as car cleaners and construction workers in more developed countries. 

 

Its not Thais cannot get down n dirty, its the pay that determines if they want to get down to it or not.

Good point, though reliability is a factor too. The Hard Rock Cafe in Siam Square won't employ Thai musicians because they can't be sure they'll turn up every night.

[Prbkk]

20 minutes ago, Moonmoon said:

Strange and yet Thais r working as car cleaners and construction workers in more developed countries. 

 

Its not Thais cannot get down n dirty, its the pay that determines if they want to get down to it or not.

Yes, it is a good point. EG, the huge number of Thai fruit-pickers in Scandinavia and Portugal. Very highly regarded, in Portugal they are strongly preferred over other nationalities...reliable, hard-working, easy going.

[jspill]

2 hours ago, Slavomir said:

Bad news for digital nomads?

Nope. When the article doesn't even mention us this seems more definitive proof to me that we aren't classed as working here (common sense to many but apparently not some thaivisa poster).